Make Movie Template Manager documentation?

[plnelson]

(I have VS Pro 6)
I posted a question (http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=53311 ) about why there didn't seem to be a default option to save my MPEG-4 files at 24 (23.98) fps, 24 Mbps, the way they're recorded on my Canon XA20, but answer came there none (as of this writing), so I experimented with making a custom template in Make Movie Template Manager.

It seemed to come out alright, but I was just guessing at some of the settings. The Corel Video Studio User Guide has only the most superficial overview of this feature. Also, even using the "High" H.264 profile, it still only let me specify 20 Mbps bitrate. Where can I find better documentation, or a detailed technical tutorial for the Make Movie Template Manager?

Thanks in advance.

[GaryG45]

I found something in the Corel Knowledge Base for the Make Movie Template Manager, but it appears to be about the same as the information in the VSX5 User Guide. Lata has some information at his site: http://lata.me.uk/video_studio/guides.htm. The book I used to learn VSX5 only has one page on the topic, so I don't think there is much detail available. I'd look at Lata's site to see if that will help you.

Gary

[plnelson]

I took a look at Lata's site but it doesn't seem to shed much more light on this topic than what I could see by playing around in VSPro 6. (but N.B. that in general I think Lata's site is great and a very useful resource and we should be grateful for all the work he's put into it!)

I didn't see anyplace I could make settings for CBR -vs- VBR, keyframe intervals, number of encoding passes, and other stuff that other video editors, including some in this same price range, like Adobe Premiere Elements 12, (which I downloaded the user manual for) seem to let you set. And being forced to downgrade the bitrate to less than the original from my camera bugs me.

Does VSPro7 overcome any of this?

(one thing I've never understood about this product category is that there's a cluster of products in the $70-100 price range, and then there's this huge gap to Sony Vegas Pro ($400) and Adobe Premiere ($700). Why can't Corel offer a slightly more muscular version of their product without these limitations, say for a 50% price premium? I'd happily pay it just to avoid having to climb the learning curve on another editor.

[Ken Berry]

Does VSPro7 overcome any of this?

It's actual X7 (version 17) -- version 7 is the one I started with a dozen years ago...

That being said, X7 has finally heeded the call we have been making to Corel for several versions now. First off, it finally allows you, in Preferences > General, to tick the box beside "Show message when inserting first clip", and have the message show with high definition video. With X6 and earlier it only worked with standard def video. Now, what that message means is that on inserting that first high def clip, you are asked if you want the Project Properties to match those of the clip. Big step forward, though it might not sound it. But it then allows you also to use, if you want, when you finish editing, to select Share > Create Video File > Same As Project Properties. Or you can also select Same As First Clip and it will match the properties of the first clip. In past versions, this worked with only one or two varieties of high def video, but with most it simply failed to deliver.

The Make Movie Template Manager is now known, in X7, as the Movie Profile Manager. And with the above changes, it now allows you more flexibility in making your own templates, including AVCHD 2.0 ones with an increased bitrate up to 28 Mbps. It also allows you to specify whether you want VBR or CBR, but this has been the case for quite some time, and should be the case in X6. It also allows only 2 pass encoding, and does not, and has never, allowed specification of keyframe intervals.